* As this issue is going to print, there is still need for members to help at the ponds to sell tickets. If you are available to help, please contact Lisa Lanham at (319)362-7672 or Dennis Sindelar at (310)365-1839 or Jackie Allsup at (319)934-3665. We need half day and whole day helpers.

* All helpers need to be at the pond at 10 am. This will allow time to place signs, get organized and be ready for those early birds who always show up.

* Pond hosts and helpers will be receiving information about who is sitting at whose pond via e-mail or by phone soon.

* Pond helpers need to pick up the pond packet and signs at the Nolan pond, 2055 H Ave N.E. on the morning of the tour. The packet will contain the tickets and change.

* PLANT SALEóEIPS is having a plant sale at the Nolan Pond the day of the tour. If you have pond plants to donate please bring them to Nolans Sunday morning. Please have them named, and priced. Also note if you would like them returned to you if they do not sell. We usually have a 1/2 price sale towards the end of the day to move the plants that are left.

The pond committee feels we have an exceptional tour this year due to the variety of ponds offered: Professionally built - owner dug, rubber lined - clay bottom, organic filtration - big mechanical/biological filtration, small garden - large acreage, formal landscape - natural landscape; we will be showing it all. The public should learn a lot.

The meeting at the Jensenís is an ice cream socialwith EIPS picking up the ice cream. Members are asked to bring a cake, cookies, or pie decorated in an aquatic or fish theme. The deserts will be entered in a contest with members voting in secret ballot on the best of show, most fishy, most slimy, best looking fish food, most realistic rocks, etc. After the contest, we will be eating the deserts despite their appearance! This is an opportunity for club members to display their artistic talents.

Directions:
On I-380 near Waterloo take exit 68 to Elk Run Heights. This is a right hand turn coming from the south or a left hand turn coming from the Waterloo area. You will be on Evansdale Road. Turn left onto Gilbertville Road. It will curve to the right. Then you will turn right onto Gray.

Thursday, June 8th, at the home of Lisa and Brady Lanham, Cedar Rapids.

President, Monica Morley, opened the meeting by asking Brady to talk a little about his pond. The Lanhams have one pond outside and one inside. Brady told us about the history of his ponds and everyone got a chance to go inside to check out his inside setup. They did all their own landscaping and construction. It was a beautiful evening so we got to sit outside for a change and enjoy their beautiful flowers and fire pit.

Following Bradyís brief talk we were very fortunate to have James Kurtzleben, a master gardener with the Iowa State Extension Office, give us a talk on bats and bat houses. I took 2 pages of notes on these little creatures as James talked about myths and behaviors and care for these guys. They didnít seem near a creepy after he was done talking about them. Most importantly he talked about humane ways to get them out of places you donít want them in, like attics. We all learnt a lot and James was a very good speaker, rewarding members with candy if they got the answers to his questions correct. For more information on bats or building proper bat houses check out www.batcon.org or NWF.org on the web.

During the business section of the meeting, minutes where approved as printed. There was no treasurerís report as Joe was gone on vacation in Canada. We discussed the purchase of new pond tour signs and Monica had a sample for us to look at. We decided we needed some additional information and will bring it back to the next meeting. We discussed the possible reformat of tickets for the pond tour and asked for volunteers to sit at the ponds. Lisa reported we have 10 ponds signed up for the tour and fliers are forth coming.

Monica passed around an email from a gentleman that had 6 large koi for sale. If youíre interested please call Tony at 431-5657

Monica and others have been researching information regarding an advertisement contract with the CR Gazette for pond tour ads. It was voted to go ahead with these ads to see if they make a difference in our participation.

Monica also donated some EIPS business cards which will be given out at the tour. She was also looking into membership cards, which we used to have, but seem to have dropped in recent years. We discussed club discounts with area vendors, and decided we needed to be more aggressive at asking vendors to offer these discounts. (Again, it takes volunteers to take the time to go out and ask for these type of benefits, and if no one does it, it doesnít get done.)

I mentioned to the membership that I had received an email regarding a gentleman that wanted to start a spin off club in the Washington, IA area. Itís only in the planning state and he had to see if he could drum up enough interest in his area to start its own club, but they wanted to be affiliated with our club so they could share our newsletter. The membership was open to this idea and felt we could probably work something out as we welcome all people to this great hobby.

Meeting Minutes June 24, 2006 The meeting was called to order at the Pond of Robert and Stephanie Geers by president Monica Morley. A treasurerís report e-mailed in from Joe Olsen revealed a balance in excess of $2500. It was reported that an anonymous member purchased 50 Signs for the Pond tour. This was great news.

Monica distributed some packets to the Pond owners on the pond tour. They were encouraged to find out how attendees heard about the tour to allow us to track our publicity techniques.

Dennis Sindelar reported for the Pond Tour Committee:

** We are still in need of volunteers to sit at ponds. 7 all day (6 hours) slots and 6 one half day (3 hour) slots. Members were encouraged to see Carol during the pre-tour to sign up to help. (By the end of the evening there were still 3 all day slots and 6 half day slots). We need helpers, please call Lisa & Brady Lanham at 362-7672 or e-mail at lanham@earthlink.com or LANHAMB1@msn.com or Dennis & Carol Sindelar at 365-1839 or email fishloung1@cs.com to volunteer.

** Posters are available for members to take and place around their communities. Please, again, see Carol during the tour to get posters.

** We will be caravanning together to the ponds this evening to allow the pond owners to see all the ponds and yet be at their own pond when members visit. Please try to stay together. If you get lost Dennisí cell number is 389-9037.

Monica drew Jeanine Paigeís name for Member of the month and she is invited to write about herself and her ponding experience. Kacy Novak then drew names for door prizes. A lot of nice pond related items donated by national manufacturers were given away.

At that time the group left Geers and proceeded on the tour. It took 3 hours and we only received 10 drops of rain on the windshield between the Remington and Miene ponds. Pretty good considering the sky was looking very ominous as we traveled to the Toddville area.

There are some yellowing leaves and damaged leave from hale on my water lily. Should I remove them?

Answer:

Dear Fellow Ponder,

Just like other garden plants, your pond plants will develop old leaves that will yellow. They can be removed by gently tugging on the stem or using scissors to remove the leaf. Grooming your pond plants is always a good idea. Our pond is frequently visited by Raccoons who often march right through the cattails, or what looks like they were sitting in the Marsh Marigolds. Stems that are broken by these critters have to be removed. Sure wish they would clean up after themselves.

Do you have a ponding related question or problem or an answer to this question? With over 100 members, EIPS is a tremendous resource of information. Here is your chance to ask that burning question and get feedback from the "experts" in the club. Email your questions to olywon@indytel.com...we will print them in the newsletter. Replies will be included in the following month's issue of Beneath the Surface. This will work only if you submit questions AND if club members with ideas reply (email answers to olywon@indytel.com before the last meeting of each month)...

Space is limited so be concise in both questions and responses. Let's have some fun with this.

To keep it easy to remember, lets just say the newsletter deadline is the Monday after the last meeting of the month. So if you are the member of the month or an officer or committee chairperson and need something in the newsletter, get it to me as soon as possible. Thank you

Here is a picture from the Cedar Rapids Public Library using the Photo Contest pictures in their Garden and Ponds display. The display will be open to the public through July 10th. I hope you can find time to stop by over the 4th of July

Here is an idea to add a little interest to your waterfall or stream. Add a hallow log or piece of driftwood to divert the water in an interesting direction. In these photos, the ponder added half of a hallow log to bring a stream of water off a rock allowing it to splash again on the stones below. The log also adds another location for some nice green moss to grow. If you have done something interesting in your landscape around the pond you would like to share. Send EIPS a picture, a description and how to do it. And we will share your idea with fellow ponders.